IRT 2009 DVD OF THE YEAR: JEFF BUCKLEY Grace Around The World (Columbia-Legacy)

GRACE IN YOUR FACE
Columbia Legacy Celebrates the 15th Anniversary of Jeff Buckley’s Grace With A Deluxe Live CD/DVD Box that Includes the Long-Awaited Retail Release of the Award-Winning Documentary Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley

Story by Ron Hart

There is no doubt that Jeff Buckley’s singular masterpiece, 1994’s Grace, is far and away one of the ten best albums to come out in the last 20 years.

Unfortunately, the album also marks the second generation music great’s only proper studio endeavor, as Jeff tragically drowned while swimming in a channel of the Mississippi River. He was in Memphis to record material for his second album for Columbia, My Sweetheart the Drunk, a record that saw such New York rock legends as Television’s Tom Verlaine and Lou Reed expressing interest to collaborate with him on. Although it was released under the title Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk, it is merely a composite of what could have been. Grace, on the other hand, remains a creative and influential touchstone for two generations of young artists from emo to freak folk.

This past summer, Columbia’s intrepid reissue department, Legacy Recordings, issued a beautifully packaged limited edition CD/DVD package entitled Grace Around The World, a unique collection that features audio and video live footage of every track from the Grace album, mostly from television appearances on such channels as MTV (on 120 Minutes, of course), MTV Japan and the BBC in London. Also featured on Grace Around The World is the long-awaited official release of the critically acclaimed documentary on Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley, a wonderful insight into the man and his music directed and produced by Laurie Trombley, who was also the head of Buckley's fan club, and Nyla Bialek Adams. IRT has the opportunity to speak with Ms. Trombley about her film and its inclusion in the Grace Around The World box.

For more information on Jeff Buckley and this amazing new collection, visit www.jeffbuckley.com.

IRT: Leonard Cohen recently proposed a moratorium on the use of his "Hallelujah", which Jeff Buckley covered. I was wondering what your thoughts were on that and did word ever come around that he ever heard Jeff's cover?
Laurie Trombley: I hadn’t heard that he issued a moratorium on “Hallelujah.” There are two definitive versions of the song in my eyes—Jeff’s and Leonard Cohen’s. Jeff’s version was ironically based on a cover of the song. John Cale recorded the alternate set of lyrics for a Leonard Cohen tribute album called “I’m Your Fan,” which is what turned Jeff on to the song. I can see why the song has resonated so much with people and why artists would want to cover it—it’s just a beautiful song, but it would be impossible to surpass Jeff’s recording of it.

IRT: What was Jeff like when you first met him in person?
Trombley: Jeff was really nice to me from the moment I first met him. He could tell that I was a little starstruck and never made me feel self conscious. He was always very kind. He was sensitive to other people's feelings—but was also quite funny and had a great sense of humor.

IRT: Tell me about the first time you saw Jeff Buckley perform live.
Trombley: The first time I saw Jeff perform live was at an in-store performance at Tower Records in NYC. It was such an incredible show. The place was packed. I remember that there were even people looking in the windows (from the outside) trying to hear what was going on. He commanded attention when he played. Looking back, I feel quite lucky knowing what a rare experience it was to have seen him in such an intimate setting.

IRT: Sin-e recently closed down, just one of the many great venues that has fallen victim to the gentrification of the Lower East Side. What is your opinion on its closure and what was the reaction of Jeff's friends and family--at least the ones you talk to regularly--in regards to its shuttering, if only in name alone, as you and I both know that was hardly the original Sin-e.
Trombley: The second incarnation of Sin-e closed a few years ago. It was a much larger space than the little Café on St. Marks Place where Jeff and other notable L.E.S. musicians (like David Poe, David Gray, Katell Kenig, Dorothy Scott) from that time period performed. That original Sin-e closed many years ago—I think it was in 1996. When the original venue closed, I remember feeling very sad about it. It was the end of an era. It was a special place.

IRT: Do you have any interesting stories stemming from your tenure as Jeff's 'fan relations manager'? There are many famous musicians and celebrities who have sung the praises of Jeff over the years, did any of them reach out to you in your position?
Trombley: Working for Jeff was very eye opening! I was always amazed at the amount of mail he received. I’d never before (or since) seen anything like it. He inspired and moved so many people and he received beautiful handmade gifts from around the world on a daily basis. He cherished all of them and it’s important that people know that he personally responded to everyone he could. I helped him with sorting and organizing. I was privy to a lot of people contacting him but none reached out to me specifically. However, when Nyla and I began our research for the documentary, we did reach out to some of those people ourselves for interviews.

IRT: The live footage you scored for Amazing Grace is outstanding. How did you come across these films and are there any plans to release any of these full shows on DVD any time soon?
Trombley: Thank you for acknowledging that! We were very lucky to have access to the footage we did. Trust me, we do not take for granted the trust that was given to us when people were handing us their personal tapes. There are no plans to release any full-length performances from our archive. We used the clips we did to help with the story we were telling and gave the masters back to the people who so graciously shared them with us.

IRT: Of the folks who you tapped for interviews and testimonials about Jeff for Amazing Grace, who was the most accessible and who was the most difficult to acquire and why?
Trombley: Once we broke through the initial red tape, everyone was relatively accessible and working with all of them was a pleasure. The person we tried our hardest to interview, but ultimately couldn’t coordinate, was PJ Harvey. We met her in NY and arranged to interview her in London, but due to conflicts with her recording schedule it never happened. It was understandable, but needless to say, we were disappointed. I think one of the biggest challenges for both Nyla and I while making this documentary was the editing process. There were people we interviewed who we thought would definitely, unequivocally make it into the final cut (Siouxsie and Budgie, Dorothy Scott, a young opera singer—and many more), but in the end, their stories or songs did not quite flow with the main themes of the documentary. It was surprising, even to us.

IRT: How much of a hand did you and Nyla have in the production of the Grace Around The World box beyond the documentary? What do you think of the finished product?
Trombley: We are very pleased with the final product. I work in marketing so it was crucial that I ensured that the face of Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley be consistent with what we had already promoted on our website and at festivals. We worked closely with Sony and The Estate of Jeff Buckley by providing artwork, information, feedback, etc. on anything to do with the film. They were all happy to oblige us. The film’s inclusion and how it was represented in the package was a collaborative effort.

IRT: Are you a fan of Jeff's father, Tim Buckley? If so, what is your favorite album of his and why? Also, did you ever watch the amazing documentary on him that came out recently, My Fleeting House?
Trombley: I will be honest and say that before I met with Jeff, I had never heard of Tim Buckley. I listened to him once or twice after that but never fully immersed myself in his work.


IRT: What new artist or band do you feel is carrying Jeff's torch of creativity and sonic exploration and why?
Trombley: There are certainly a lot of incredible artists who have been inspired by Jeff, but no one artist comes to mind who is pushing the same vocal and musical boundaries that Jeff was pushing in the mid ‘90s. At least nobody who I can think of at the moment. I think any truly great artist is careful about carrying the torch of another artist because there’s the danger of becoming too derivative.


IRT: Would you like to see Amazing Grace come out as it's own DVD/Blu-Ray one day or are you happy that it was released as a part of the Grace Around The World package?
Trombley: Both Nyla and I are very proud that the film was released as part of the Grace Around the World package. When we set out to make this film, we never anticipated that it would one day receive worldwide distribution as part of the 15-year celebration of the release of Grace. It’s quite an honor.

IRT: What are you guys working on currently? Is there another documentary in the works we can look forward to?
Trombley: I am working full-time in marketing and Nyla is writing. We don’t have another documentary in the works…yet!

IRT: Where were you when you first heard that Jeff had passed?
Trombley: I got the phone call when I was at work and really didn’t believe it could be true. I was shocked.

IRT: What is one thing you can share about Jeff with us that nobody is aware of...
Trombley: Jeff was truly a unique person. I feel so grateful that I got to know him. He had a lot to offer as a person (outside of being the amazing musician that he was) and his introspection and quirky sense of humor was really fun and inspiring to be around. He will be forever missed.

"Hallelujah"


"Lilac Wine"

IRT 2009 REISSUE OF THE YEAR: YAHOWA 13 Magnificence In The Memory (Drag City)

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE
Dave Nuss from the No Neck Blues Band on Ya Ho Wa 13
Story: Ron Hart
Photography: The Source Family Archives/Process Media, Inc.

Ya Ho Wa 13 was a freewheeling psychedelic rock outfit that was led by the late Father Yod, a Rolls Royce driving polygamist and spiritual leader of The Source Family, a cult based out of the Hollywood Hills back in the Vietnam era.

Though the band was originally founded in 1969, Ya Ho Wa 13 didn’t begin making proper albums until 1973, which they recorded in the wee hours of the early morning following all-night meditation sessions inside a soundproofed garage-turned-studio and sold out of the Source Family’s legendary vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles; Frank Zappa, Julie Christie and John Lennon were among those who frequented the establishment. The music created by the Father and his brood was a completely improvisational mind-meld of drum circles, otherworldly chanting and spacey Magic Band-style guitar jams, creating a challenging and wholly unique style of rock that has since been emulated by such modern-day acts as Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Tower Recordings, Sunburned Hand of the Man and the No Neck Blues Band, whose guitarist, Dave Nuss, plays an integral part of this here story.

It has been said that the band’s recorded output consists somewhere along the lines of 65 albums, although only 9 were officially released before a fatal hang-gliding accident in 1975 killed Father Yod. Shortly following the Father’s death, the Source Family scattered across the land, with several key members taking up residency in Hawaii. While much about this most interesting group’s history has been shrouded in mystery for many years, a renewed interest in Ya Ho Wa began in 1998 following the release of God and Hair: Yahowa Collection, a massive 13-CD box set celebrating the many incarnations of the band produced by the Japanese psyche label Captain Trip and curated by the late Seeds frontman and onetime Source Family member Sky Saxon. However, in 2007, surviving members of the core Ya Ho Wa line-up, Sunflower, Octavius and Djin, began playing out again on the West Coast to promote The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and The Source Family, an amazing biography written by Source Family members Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian and published by the visionaries at Process Media, Inc. It was then that Dave Nuss from NNCK, through Process publishers Jodi Wille and Adam Parfrey, got to meet and befriend members of the Family. Eventually, Nuss ventured to the surviving Source compound in Hawaii, where he was invited to squirrel through the group’s vast archives of unreleased music. The fruit of his digging appears on Magnificence in the Memory, a compilation released in 2009 by Drag City containing nine of the finest Ya Ho Wa freak-outs available to public ears. IRT had the pleasure to communicate with Dave about his experiences getting to know this most extraordinary rural route of American counterculture and the wealth of knowledge and spirituality it provided him.

For more on Father Yod and Ya Ho Wa 13, please check out this amazing interview with Sunflower, Octavius and Djin, originally published in Jason Gross’ Perfect Sound Forever back in June 2002, now available here.

And please, if you are at all interested in the weird, wild history of The Source Family, you would be foolish not to seek out The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and The Source Family, available now through Process Media, Inc. There isn’t a more definitive or trustworthy source on The Source.

A big thanks to Dave for doing the interview and Nicole and Sara from Drag City for supplying the music and the positive vibes.


IRT: How did you first discover Ya Ho Wa 13 and Father Yod?
Dave Nuss: I first discovered Ya Ho Wa 13 at an NYC record shop with a vinyl reissue of Savage Sons of Yahowa. I bought if for the cover and took it home and thought, what is this, ROCK music?? I was basically only listening to Stockhausen and Alan Silva at the time and was momentarily blinded to the beauty. Interestingly now Savage Sons is my fave album of the Higher Key releases, followed by All or Nothing at All. [These are] timeless, dramatic, transportive songs.

IRT: How much of an influence does Ya Ho Wa 13 bear on the music you create with NNCK?
Dave: Ya Ho Wa 13 is an influence on NNCK in that it stayed independent from larger business and was buttressed instead by a close knit internal community; also the improvisatory aspect, composing with the music rather than any predetermined plan.

IRT: How did you come into curating Magnificence in the Memory for Drag City?
Dave: I've been traveling already to Hawaii for years because of the mystical attraction, and when I finally heard from Process publisher Jodi Wille about the Source book and reunion of the band in LA, I cruised out there to catch the events, met the Source Family and connected. By the way, the best book about Source is this one on Process, and it is the best place to start for one not familiar with the legacy. So I went to Hawaii again shortly after and stayed with Isis, who toured me around the sacred sites and was kind enough to let me explore the audio archives.

IRT: How much unreleased Ya Ho Wa 13 music is there and can we expect to see more releases like Magnificence in the Memory in the future?
Dave: There is SO MUCH there that is unreleased—hours and hours of Ya Ho Wa 13 and many related projects. Much of it may not yet be ready to pass through the portal into this world. Each track and project really lets us know when it's ready to come in...

IRT: What did the song selection process for this set entail?
Dave: For the songs on Magnificence I selected music which has a unique character vis-a-vis the Higher Key Records. In short I would describe the selections as highly musical - many were selected from rehearsals rather than recording sessions, so there is a sense of freedom and playfulness, as well as a marked lack of self-consciousness. What I recognized in certain moments was a sense of the band, including Yod, working together as a band, rather than musicians supporting a charismatic leader.

IRT: To the layman, Father Yod seems like he started The Source Family so he could hook up with hot hippie chicks. However, what have you come to learn about his teachings in your years listening to his words and music?
Dave: Yod did not start the Source to hook up with hippie chicks; the intention was to provide them - and the guys as well - with a sense of clarity and focus on peace and universal love not available via the status quo. He offered a chance for them to pursue their dreams of living in freedom, care, and comfort, and created the mission of developing a more expansive consciousness via ancient methods, Eastern and Western. the path he showed was exceedingly deep, yet glittered with mirth. Yod strikes me as a man of infectious and irresistible joy.

IRT: If you were of age in the late 60s/early 70s, would you have joined the Source Family?
Dave: I imagine I would have joined had I been around because I have a strong penchant for the values the Source Restaurant espoused dietarily, and an inclination towards learning the metaphysical through symbols. Yod combined the metaphysical and the concrete in a completely artistic and jovial way, and in that sense is one-of-a-kind.

IRT: Did you get any good recipes from the old Source Restaurant while you were in Hawaii curating Magnificence?
Dave: Yes. Actually, all the recipes are in the back of the Source book on Process. When Ya Ho Wa 13 came to NYC, we recreated their restaurant in the NNCK space, the Hint House. The biggest hit of the night was, of course, the cheesecake.

IRT: What do you think young Americans can get out of the Father's teachings?
Dave: Regarding the effect of the Source on people today: Many recognize the message as a familiar call and approach it without questioning. The message of Source is not analytical but experiential, and Magnificence is intended to illustrate that experience of Source metaphysics through music, unashamedly. In the album’s full package, you will see the pictures of the major players, witness the key symbols and tune in to the particular frequency that is the experience of harmony in community, celestial and mundane. It is not important to justify or define this message further, for in the release it becomes self-explanatory.

What is relevant for you is: Can you perceive what is being offered?

Here is the invitation from the top of the first track, "Camp of the Gypsies," spoken by Yod:

"There is nothing you can do,
there is nowhere you can be
that you are away from me.
End it, begin it, always as you seek,
but go with Love...

I'm talking to the few that I'm seeking.
Awake from your sleep, your Father's home.
He wants to find his Sons. You were stolen long ago, yeah,
you were very young you know. But I've come to find you.
Don't worry I've prepared the way for you.
Are you ready?
Let's go!"

FIND LIVE VIC CHESNUTT ON ARCHIVE.ORG

As with the many music fans who heard the unfortunate news of acclaimed singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt's passing this Christmas, we here at the IRT are very saddened to learn that one of the great voices of American alt-folk has been silenced forever--and by his own hand, no less.

Over at Archive.org, there is a great cache of live recordings from the Georgian's recent tours available for download, the best of which we have included as links below. We hope you enjoy and please take the time out to recognize just how devastating suicide is to not only the person contemplating the act, but their loved ones as well. More information on what to do when yourself or a loved one is contemplating suicide can be found on the Web site of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Live at the Central Presbyterian Church 12-5-09

Live at the Button Factory 12-1-07

Live at the 40 Watt Club 10-17-07

To view the rest of Vic's live recordings on Archive.org, click here.

Vic Chesnutt performing live with Godspeed You! Black Emperor:


Vic Chesnutt on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn:

IRT 2009 BOOK OF THE YEAR: White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day by Richie Unterberger

Released in June 2009, Jawbone Press continues to impress with its excellently exhaustive Day-by-Day series with its latest and perhaps most anticipated edition yet in rock historian and All Music Guide guru Richie Unterberger's meticulously detailed step-by-step guide through the entire career of New York's Velvet Underground. Through newly conducted interviews with band members and their associates, newly discovered archival documentation and an array of rare and previously unseen photography, poster and album art and other cultural ephemera pertinent to the arc of this legendary group's career, White Light/White Heat is the definitive word on VU and is a must-own for any fan. IRT was lucky enough to get in touch with Mr. Unterberger via e-mail, who broke down his reasons behind undertaking this foray into the Exploding Plastic Inevitable in this exclusive Q&A. Enjoy. -Ed.

IRT: Why did you choose the Velvet Underground to do a Day by Day book for Jawbone?
Richie Unterberger: I've been a big fan of the Velvet Underground for thirty years. The Day-By-Day format gave me a chance to do more in-depth research into their career than any other could have. Also, when compared to other major groups of the era like the Beatles or Beach Boys, or even the Kinks or the Byrds, not nearly as much research has been done into the Velvets' career. I knew that would give me the opportunity to uncover a lot of previously unpublished information and stories about the band, which are in the book in abundance.

IRT: What was the most interesting thing you learned about the Velvet Underground that you didn't know previously when doing your research?
Unterberger: I titled the book "White Light/White Heat" in part because the concert version of that song from the 1969 Velvet Underground Live album is my favorite Velvet Underground recording. I'd always assumed "White Light/White Heat" to be about a drug experience, specifically about amphetamines, probably crystal meth. Reed even said it was about amphetamines in a 1971 interview.

But I was very surprised to learn that another inspiration for the song came from Alice Bailey's occult book A Treatise on White Magic, which advises control of the astral body by a "direct method of relaxation, concentration, stillness and flushing the entire personality with pure White Light, with instructions on how to 'call down a stream of pure White Light.'" It's known for certain that Reed was familiar with the volume, as he calls it "an incredible book" in a November 1969 radio interview in Portland, Oregon.

I think it's an example of how Lou Reed, like all great songwriters, often writes lyrics that can work on several levels. On one level, "White Light/White Heat" probably is about a drug experience. But it's also about a more spiritual experience, of channeling white light to reach a different level of existence. When you hear "White Light/White Heat" not as a speed freak song but a song about transcending to different ways of reality/experience in general, it makes what he's singing about considerably more universal.

There are a good number of other surprising things I found in my research, some of which counter what's often written about the Velvet Underground elsewhere, on my Web site at www.richieunterberger.com/vumyth.html.

IRT: Of all your interview subjects for the book, who was the easiest to track down and speak with and why?
Unterberger: That's hard to answer since a good number of the people I interviewed had just a few questions to answer, and would naturally be easier to arrange time with than some of the more central figures in the story. For instance, I've been friends with Dorothy Moskowitz of the United States of America, who played with the Velvets in March 1968, for more than a decade and for a while she only lived a mile from me, so I could arrange that immediately. The same thing for Darice Murray-McKay, who saw the VU in San Diego in summer 1968; she is the event coordinator at the public library in Haight-Ashbury, where I often present rock history events, and I see her often.

As for some of the figures who had a more involved role in the VU story, I'd say that the interview with Norman Dolph, who co-financed their first recording sessions in April 1966 and helped as an unofficial co-producer of sorts, was easy to arrange and conduct. Anyone can find him immediately on the Internet, and he was very happy to go into his memories in depth. The same is true of Steve Nelson, who promoted/staged a lot of the VU's Massachusetts concerts, and was only a little harder to find than Dolph.

IRT: Who was the most difficult interview subject?
Unterberger: I don't want to name names in public. Certainly the most difficult one was for an interview I didn't use in the book. At first the subject asked for money; when I explained I didn't pay for interviews, consent was given, but after a ways into a rambling and not very useful conversation, it was asked that I write in the book that this person wanted Lou Reed or John Cale to produce an album of theirs. When I explained that in all fairness I could not guarantee that, the subject got very upset and hung up. This person was pretty peripheral to the Velvet Underground story, so it was not a key loss.

There were a few people who indicated or even said they could/would do interviews and then did not get it together to set a time or respond to follow-up requests to finalize interview arrangements, which is a frustrating waste of time.

IRT: For Lou Reed, it seems as though you relied a lot on old interviews with him. Did you approach him or his people about doing the book?
Unterberger: I did approach people in touch with him, and did not get a response.

IRT: Of all the band members' post-VU careers, whose would you consider to be your favorite and why?
Unterberger: I actually don't have a favorite among the solo careers of Lou Reed, John Cale, or Nico. There are some recordings of each of theirs I like very much for different reasons, though I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about any of the solo careers as I am about the Velvet Underground's career.

For Lou Reed, I like Transformer, Berlin, and the 1972 live recording American Poet, though I don't like his first solo album, Lou Reed. A lot of the songs on these were leftovers from the Velvet Underground days, and while the Velvets probably could have done these better (and in some instance did do them better on live recordings and studio outtakes that later circulated officially or unofficially), Reed did put his own spin on the material working as a solo artist.

For John Cale, I like his first solo album, Vintage Violence. It's quite a bit poppier and more accessible than anyone would have expected. I find most of his solo material, however, more something that's admirable in its idiosyncrasy than something that connects deeply with me personally.

For Nico, I like Chelsea Girl (although she didn't), which has a pop-folk sound unlike anything else done by either the Velvets or the ex-Velvets. Also it's kind of half a Velvet Underground album, since members of the VU wrote half the material and played on some of the record. To a markedly lesser degree, I also like her next three solo albums, though all of them are definitely ones you have to be in the right mood to hear, preferably on a gloomy foggy day.

I'm not too interested in other VU solo releases. There's a slight parallel here with the Beatles, my favorite group of all time. I love the Beatles, but really don't like their solo records, except for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. I think as soloists they could never approach the heights they reached as a group. And I think the same is true of the Velvet Underground, even though Reed has said that if you want to hear what the Velvet Underground might have done if they had continued, you can hear it sort of in sections on his, Cale's and Nico's solo albums.

IRT: Why do you think Sterling Morrison never recorded a solo album? How would you rate Sterling amongst your favorite guitarists?
Unterberger: I just don't think Sterling Morrison had as much in the way of music business ambition as the other members of the band. When he left the band in 1971, he really left; he never seriously pursued music as a vocation again, with the exception of when he played with the Velvets on their 1993 European reunion tour. I think he'd turned the page and wanted to devote himself to his academic career and family, without much or any regret over not persevering with rock music. I do think he was at a disadvantage compared to Reed, Cale, and Nico in that he wasn't a songwriter. He has some co-credits on Velvets songs, but my impression is that these were for the arranging side of things, not for the nuts-and-bolts words and melodies.

It's hard to rate Sterling among my favorite guitarists, as I see him more as a team player within the Velvets than as someone who takes brilliant and innovative solos. His strength was in grounding the more outrageous, if more innovative, sensibilities of Reed and Cale in more down-to-earth and fundamental (if hardly mainstream) rock, also switching to bass if needed when Cale was on keyboards and viola. His contributions were vital, but actually I think Reed was more interesting as a guitar soloist.

IRT: In the selected discography in the back of the book, you don't include any of Lou's or Moe Tucker's albums. Why is that?
Unterberger: As I note in the book's introduction, White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day primarily covers the Velvet Underground in the years 1965-1970. There's a chapter on their pre-1965 solo activities, and their solo activities between 1965 and 1970 (which were mostly Nico and John Cale's) are covered in similar depth. But their work from late August 1970 to mid-1973 after Reed quit and their reunion tour are covered lightly, and their post-1970 solo activities are only covered in relation to how they directly related to the Velvet Underground's legacy. So the discography is limited to the crucial music they made between 1965 and 1970, which is really the focus of the book. A few Nico and John Cale solo recordings are also listed because they were done during that era.

IRT: When was the first time you ever heard the Velvet Underground?
Unterberger: The first time I really heard them knowingly was in late 1979, when I was seventeen and bought The Velvet Underground & Nico (aka "the banana album"). I remember hearing "I'm Waiting for the Man" once a few months or so before that during the 1960s hour on a classic rock station. I probably did hear them at least once or twice on FM radio during the 1970s without knowing who they were – I seem to remember a hearing a creepy song in the mid-1970s that in retrospect might have been "Venus in Furs." But really, buying and listening to the first album was the first time I heard them fully knowing who the band was.

IRT: Did you ever get to see them perform? If so, how was it?
Unterberger: I didn't see them; I was too young to see them in the 1960s and early 1970s, and didn't see any of their 1993 reunion shows.

IRT: Of all the live recordings out there of VU, which one do you feel is the most essential and why?
Unterberger: This isn't a radical opinion, but the double live LP (now on two separate CDs) 1969 Velvet Underground Live is definitely the best of their live recordings. They're reaching a peak as a live band, playing versions of songs from throughout their career that usually at least match, and often exceed, the studio recordings. They're also often not simply playing the studio arrangements with a live energy, but doing versions that are quite different, and in very interesting ways, from the studio ones, especially on "White Light/White Heat," "What Goes On," "New Age," and "Sweet Jane." There are some interesting songs that don't appear on the studio albums they released while they were active, like "Lisa Says," "Over You," and "Sweet Bonnie Brown/It's Just Too Much."

While the playing isn't as "weird" as it is on the first two albums, in part because John Cale's been replaced by Doug Yule, it's not mainstream at all, combining the best of their experimental innovations and pure rock'n'roll energy. The recordings selected for the album are in my opinion also notably superior (in both sound and performance) than other official and unofficial ones from the same late-1969 era, like the ones officially released on The Quine Tapes, and the unofficial ones from Dallas in October 1969. I'll go as far as to say that 1969 Velvet Underground Live is not just my favorite live album by the Velvet Underground, but my favorite live album of all time, by anyone.

IRT: Of all the unofficial recordings out there, which one would you like to see get an official release and why?
Unterberger: There are about four hours of unreleased recordings, in pretty good quality (comparable to the quality of 1969 Velvet Underground Live), made at the Matrix in San Francisco in fall 1969. That's the same venue where, and same time when, most of the tracks on the official 1969 Velvet Underground Live album were recorded. But all of these four hours are additional tracks that don't appear on that album (though some of them are different versions of songs that do appear on 1969 Velvet Underground Live). As I said in my previous answer, I think this time and place is the band at their live peak – in fact, they're playing as well as any band did at any time.

There are more details on what I consider the most interesting unreleased Velvet Underground recordings on my Web site, at http://www.richieunterberger.com/vubeg.html.

IRT: On the White Light/White Heat Amazon page, a reader posted a comment about the recently surfaced Gymnasium tapes not being mentioned in the book. Why were they not included here?
Unterberger: That's not the case. The tapes are discussed in great detail on pages 146 and 147 of the book, under an entry for shows they did at the Gymnasium.

IRT: What new or modern band do you feel serves the most justice to the Velvet Underground sound today and why?
Unterberger: This isn't going to be the most popular comment, but I haven't heard a new or modern band influenced by the Velvet Underground that I think does them justice. In part that's because I don't hear that many new or modern bands; my specialty is rock history. But the ones I do hear that sound VU-influenced usually seem to take the Velvets' most aggressive surface qualities – the distortion, dissonance, outrageousness, etc. – without backing them up with the kind of diverse and strong songs that were really, when you come down to it, the Velvet Underground's best assets.

This kind of syndrome applies not just to the Velvets, but to many great acts that are paid homage to over the years. All those lame power pop bands that think they're trying to be the Beatles, for instance, are also taking the most obvious surface qualities without having anything near the sophistication or songwriting smarts.

The best artists that were obviously VU-influenced were the ones that were much closer in time to the source. To me, those were early-'70s David Bowie, the early'70s Modern Lovers and the Patti Smith Group.


Exploding Plastic Inevitable:


"Sunday Morning":


"Venus in Furs"

2009 IRT BAND OF THE YEAR: WOODEN SHJIPS

WOODEN SHJIPS ON THE WATER, VERY FREE
The Return of San Francisco’s Modern Day Psyche Rock Heroes

Story: Ed.

San Francisco has always enjoyed the very best psychedelic music scene in the entire world back in the Summer of Love. And beneath the sensationalism of the likes of the Dead, Big Brother, the Jefferson Airplane, hell, even Sly and the Family Stone back then, there lay a bedrock of heavy hitting groups like Blue Cheer, It’s A Beautiful Day and The Flamin’ Groovies who really offered a darker and heavier view of the whole psyche movement.

Today, groups like Blues Control, Om, Earthless and Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound have since taken the place of of keeping the acid-washed dreams of sonic existentialism alive for the youthful masses in the Bay Area region of the embattled Golden State. And leading the charge is Wooden Shjips, a four-piece consisting of drummer Omar Ahsanuddin, bassist Dusty Jermier, organ player Nash Whalen (no relation to IRT contributor Tom Whalen, although they might be cousins on a cosmic level) and frontman/guitarist Erik "Ripley" Johnson. Together, they bring together a burly, effects-damaged guitar attack that will take you back to heavy psyche's AOR glory days with the steady, drone-like repetition of such classic minimalist composers as Terry Riley and Steve Reich to create an exciting new level of West Coast psyche rock to help rattle the establishment for the next generation.

Wooden Shjips’ second album, Dos, was released by Holy Mountain this spring and is one of the best albums of the year thus far. IRT had the pleasure of speaking with Nash about the Shjips’ triumphant voyage through the high seas of the American underground.

Make sure you check out the Free Music Archive for some amazing free live MP3s of the Shjips doing their thing at the 2009 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain and at the 2008 ATP Festival at Kutsher's Resort in Monticello, NY.

IRT: How did you guys initially come up with the concept of Wooden Shjips?
Nash: The band was Ripley’s idea. He wanted to make music he wanted to hear: improvised primitive music that you can dance to. So he started these loose jam sessions with some non-musician friends, including me. Sometimes we switched instruments, but in general Ripley and I were playing guitar and we had a few different people playing bass and drums. We kept that going for a year or more, but it eventually fell apart without any shows or proper recordings. After Ripley recruited Dusty on bass and Omar on drums, I started playing keyboards and we began working out songs to play live and record.


IRT: Your band name--how did you come to add that j in Shjips and is the name more of a knock or homage to the San Francisco of yesteryear?
Nash: When the name came about, we were playing with a friend who, like Ripley, has Swedish roots. And Ripley was listening to a lot of Trad, Gras och Stenar. So the idea was to come up with a name that paid homage to psych rock of both SF and Sweden. We thought adding the “J” did that.


IRT: How would you describe the San Francisco music scene today in comparison to the city’s previous sonic renaissances in ‘67 during the summer of love and in the late 80s/early 90s in the heyday of Faith No More and Primus?
Nash: The music scene here today could be in trouble. The State is trying to close down the all-age shows at some venues and a longtime practice space just closed, but people try to work around those obstacles. There are still good places to play and everyone is real supportive, but it is easy to imagine it used to be better for bands. But there are a lot of great ones… some we’ve played with include Sic Alps, Hank IV, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, Thee Oh Sees, Ascended Master, Sleepy Sun, Om and Howlin’ Rain.


IRT: I hear as much Steve Reich and the Monks in your sound as I do Iron Butterfly and Sir Lord Baltimore. However, where do you yourself feel the root of your sound lies in your own words?
Nash: For me, I just think of a “Sister Ray” kind of vibe when I am playing. It is such a great song, because it goes on for so long and evolves in an amazing way, with vocals and guitar parts dropping in and out, while the drums never change that much. Even though there is like an hour and a half worth of “Sister Ray” on The Quine Tapes, it never gets boring, as it remains raw and rocking and loose and dynamic throughout. Of course, now that you mention Iron Butterfly, the "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" on the church organ in The Simpsons could be were it all comes from for me…


IRT: For Dos, was there anything you did different in terms of recording techniques than you did for the first album and Volume 1?
Nash: I don’t think we did anything differently for Dos. We recorded it in our practice space using the same tape machine and microphones as the first album, with Ripley and Dusty again in charge of the recording and mixing. Some songs were built up from the bass and drums and others were recorded live. Volume 1 is a collection of singles mostly recorded on a 4-track and therefore all of those sound a bit different than the proper albums.


IRT: Your sound is very analog...what kinds of gear do you use to capture that vintage flavor?
Nash: We record on an old Tascam 80-8 8-track that Dusty keeps going. Actually, I think he has a couple of them that he uses for parts, but that machine is a big part of the sound in our recordings. Most of our gear is old; we play through these 70’s tube amps and use various analog effects that Dusty keeps going too…


IRT: Being from San Francisco, did you ever grow to appreciate the Grateful Dead? If so, what is your favorite Dead era?
Nash: Actually, none of us grew up in SF, and by the time we started moving here the Grateful Dead were pretty much in their final days. But I saw them many times, mostly shows in the Northeast in the 80’s, and I did manage to see one California Dead Show in Oakland in 1990… I was in college and went with a few kids that had grown up in the Bay Area and although they were into rap and metal, they loved going to Dead shows. It was part of their culture, like going to the county fair would be for other people. My favorite Dead era has to be anytime in their first 10 years, especially the Pigpen years. The band spent so much of that time trying to find their direction and wrote a lot of great songs that didn’t sound as inspired in the later years after they played them hundreds of times. And Pigpen added an element of soul they never seemed to have again.


IRT: Your mayor, Gavin Newsom, is running for Calif. Governor. Do you think he has a good shot at winning in your opinion?
Nash: I have no idea if he can win... California elections never make sense to me. He certainly hasn’t done much to improve SF, but I do respect him for pushing the gay marriage issue.


IRT: What was the last gem you picked up at Amoeba...
Nash: It seems like that last few times I was in Amoeba I didn’t do much searching, like when I went there recently to see Steve Earle play. But one purchase I remember well was a few years ago when I ran into Ripley in there and he told me to get Randy Holden’s “Population II”. That is a gem.


IRT: What is your honest opinion on the new psychedelic movement in America?
Nash: I think it is great that there are a lot of bands playing psychedelic music. Part of the experience for me is listening to music that stimulates my senses in unexpected ways, opening up new ideas and feelings inside. We have played a few psych-themed fests and the one thing that strikes me is how much diversity there is in the music: loud and soft, electric and acoustic, simple and complex. Of course there are bands that don’t resonate with me, but I don’t expect our music to resonate with everyone either… But the fact that there are all these bands exploring the psychedelic sounds means more people can experience their own enlightening moments. So the more, the better.


IRT: How do you guys generally discover music? Chance theory at the record shop? Recommendations?
Nash: For me, it is often based on recommendations from friends and one of the greatest resources is Ripley. He is a music historian. He reads a lot about these obscure bands from all over the world and then goes out looking for the music. Well, at least I think they are obscure until I hear him talking at length with other people about some scene somewhere 30 years ago that I never knew existed. Certainly Ripley isn’t afraid to buy something based on the cover either. That’s why he bought The Shaggs at a thrift store.

IRT: You guys toured Europe in 2009. What countries were you most excited about going to and why?
Nash: It was 3rd time on the continent and we were definitely excited about all the places we got to go: Spain, France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Germany and a few others in between. They were all great, but I was definitely most exctied for our trip around the Baltic. I can't believe I went to Estonia!


www.woodenshjips.com


Wooden Shjips live in Islington Mill, Manchester, England 8/20/09:


Wooden Shjips live at Green Man Festival in Brecon Beacons, Wales:


Wooden Shjips live in Berlin 6/9/09:

REMEMBERING JOHN

It's hard to believe it was 29 years ago today...

London News gets reaction from Paul McCartney shortly after Lennon's death hit the news:


Paul McCartney getting tearful in remembering Lennon:


ABC Nightline report on Lennon's death:


Ted Koppel reporting on Lennon's death on ABC News:

DEL-FI RECORDS FOUNDER AND PIONEERING ROCK 'N' ROLL PRODUCER BOB KEANE DIES

Bob Keane, credited for discovering early rock great Ritchie Valens and founder of the long-running independent label Del-Fi Records, passed away Saturday, November 28, of kidney failure, according to a report on Newsday.com.

Any fan of early rock should educate themselves on this towering figure of the music industry, whose entrepreneurial prowess helped guide the careers of a wildly wide ranging list of formidable names, including Barry White, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, the Bobby Fuller Four and Glen Campbell among many others. And for anyone into surf and hot rod music, Del-Fi's outstanding compilations are absolute must owns.

Rest in peace, Mr. Keane. You will be missed.

The Lively Ones' "Surf Rider":


The Darts' "Speed Machine":


Teaser for the Bob Keane documentary Oracle of Del-Fi:

Elvis Costello vs. The Roots on Jimmy Fallon

This is nothing short of amazing:

NEW TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS ALBUM DUE IN MARCH 2010

Peep this awesome cover for the new Ted Leo and the Pharmacists album The Brutalist Bricks, the first release from the Brooklyn punk bard via his new record deal with Matador Records. Click here to read the post on the Matablog for more information.

Download the first single, "Even Heroes Have To Die", here.

For updates, visit Ted's Web site at www.tedleo.com.

Ted Leo performing "Where Is My Brain?" at Pier 54 in NYC on July 23, 2009:

NEW GUEST-HEAVY MASSIVE ATTACK DUE IN FEBRUARY 2010

(Nov.24th, 2009 - New York , NY ) – Legendary trip-hop duo Massive Attack are set to release their highly anticipated 5th studio album Heligoland on EMI’s Virgin Records on February 9th, 2010. Last month, the duo released their first new material in three years, giving fans a preview of Heligoland with a 4-song EP Splitting the Atom which features 2 album tracks and 2 album track remixes. Heligoland features an all star cast of guest vocals from Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe. Long time cohort Horace Andy makes a return alongside Massive Attack founding members Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grand Marshall (Daddy G). Damon also plays bass on ‘’Flat Of The Blade’ and keyboards on ‘Splitting The Atom’ while Portishead’s Adrian Utley plays guitar on ‘Saturday Come Slow’. The band also collaborated with DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy on selected tracks. The cover artwork features an original image by Robert Del Naja.

Over the last three years Robert Del Naja has written and produced soundtracks for a number of films and documentaries, including ‘Trouble In The Water’, ’44 Inch Chest’, ‘In Prison My Whole Life’ and ‘Gomorra’, the latter for which he won the David Di Donatello Award for Best Song. Earlier this year, Massive Attack won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards. In September, Massive Attack headlined this year’s Bestival ahead of their first full UK tour in three years. They have just announced a few more UK dates in February and are expected to announce a U.S. tour next year.

Heglioland track listing:

Pray For Rain - featuring Tunde Adebimpe

Babel – featuring Martina Topley-Bird

Splitting The Atom – featuring Robert del Naja/Grant Marshall/Horace Andy

Girl I Love You – featuring Horace Andy

Psyche – featuring Martina Topley-Bird

Flat Of The Blade – featuring Guy Garvey

Paradise Circus – featuring Hope Sandoval

Rush Minute – featuring Robert del Naja

Saturday Come Slow – featuring Damon Albarn

Atlas Air – featuring Robert del Naja


"Psyche" feat. Martina Topley-Bird

NEW FOUR TET ALBUM DUE IN JANUARY 2010

There is no doubt that one of the most advanced acts to emerge from the first decade of the 21st century was former Fridge guitarist Kieran Hebden's electronic alter ego Four Tet. And he wastes no time in kicking off the next decade with the release of his much anticipated new album on January 25, 2010, entitled There Is Love In You. It is Kieran Hebden’s first full length album in over four years and is his fifth LP to date.

The first single, "Love Cry", is all over the Internet as we speak. Start hunting!

We are very excited about this album here at IRT, needless to say.

Tracklisting is as follows:

1 - Angel Echoes
2 - Love Cry
3 – Circling
4 - Pablo's Heart
5 - Sing
6 - This Unfolds
7 - Reversing
8 - Plastic People
9 - She Just Likes To Fight

For more information, check out the Four Tet page on the Domino Records Web site.

"Love Cry":

R.I.P. KEN OBER

Sad news today, as Ken Ober, host of one of the greatest game shows of all time, MTV's Remote Control, was found dead over the weekend at the age of 52.

Following the short but historic run of Remote Control, which aired from 1987 through 1989 and helped to launch the careers of comedic greats Colin Quinn, Adam Sandler and Denis Leary, not to mention introducing teen male eyes to one of the hottest women in TV history that was Kari Wuhrer, Ober worked behind the scenes on such shows as Quinn's Tough Crowd on Comedy Central and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Enjoy these old Remote Control clips and remember the laughs and useless knowledge this Gen-X icon gave us at the dawn of the Reagan era.

Read fellow MTV veteran and rock journalism great Kurt Loder's touching remembrance of Ken here.

Rest in peace, Mr. Ober. Thanks for all the laughs and entertainment at a time when I personally needed it most. -Ed.

Remote Control 1989:




Weird Al vs. LL Cool J vs. Julie Brown episode:






Adam Sandler as "The Stud Boy":

PETER GABRIEL COVERS ALBUM DUE IN JANUARY

Old Foxhead is back.

Peter Gabriel has announced the track list for his new album, Scratch My Back, due January 25, 2010. This is the first album in a series that will find Gabriel and various other musicians covering each others' material. It was produced by the great Bob Ezrin and features Gabriel tackling a deliciously odd array of tracks from such disparate acts ranging from Radiohead to Randy Newman to the Magnetic Fields to Lou Reed to Paul Simon to Bon Iver.

Gabriel is working with John Metcalfe to re-imagine the compositions. Metcalfe had this to say:

"I have been busy working closely with Peter Gabriel on his Scratch My Back project. This is a song swap with some of the world's most legendary artists and is due for release in the Spring. My role has been to re-interpret the music of the song's he has chosen to cover - quite honerous as some of the songs are among the best known in the last 40 years. The album will be acoustic, using only orchestral instruments (no guitars, drums or world instruments) and range in size from sparse chamber music to a much fuller orchestral sounds. We recently recorded the orchestra at Air Lyndhurst studios (George Martin's studio) in London which was an enormous thrill hearing my arrangements performed by some of the best performers in the U.K. The producer of the album is Canadian legend Bob Ezrin who has recorded dozens of classic albums including Pink Floyd's The Wall. We performed one of the songs, Paul Simon's 'Boy In The Bubble' at Womad back in July. I have been working a lot down at Real World studios editing and mixing and will be continuing with that in the Autumn and it's been a huge privilege to work with the great man."

The track listing for Scratch My Back reads as follows:

Heroes (David Bowie)
The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon)
Mirrorball (Elbow)
Flume (Bon Iver)
Listening Wind (Talking Heads)
The Power Of The Heart (Lou Reed)
My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire)
The Book Of Love (The Magnetic Fields)
I Think It's Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman)
Apres Moi (Regina Spektor)
Philadelphia (Neil Young)
Street Spirit (Radiohead)

For more information, visit Mr. Gabriel's Web site.

Peter Gabriel performing "Sledgehammer" in Argentina, 2009:

BEACH HOUSE TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM ON SUB POP

Recorded in West Hurley, New York, in a converted church called Dreamland, where such names as Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, 10,000 Maniacs, The Lemonheads and The B52s have recorded, with producer/engineer Chris Coady (who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, and a bunch of others), Teen Dream is the third album from the Baltimore-based duo Beach House, and their Sub Pop debut.

The new album gives voice to a full universe of unbridled imagination, and the manifestation of Teen Dream has been a welcomed and all-consuming obsession for Beach House the past 9-12 months. Teen Dream will arrive packaged with a companion DVD featuring a video for each song on the album, each by a different director.

Teen Dream arrives on January 26, 2010.

TRACKS

1. Zebra
2. Silver Soul
3. Norway
4. Walk in the Park
5. Used to Be
6. Lover of Mine
7. Better Times
8. 10 Mile Stereo
9. Real Love
10. Take Care

Real Estate Live at CMJ 2009

For the first time in 12 years, IRT has missed a CMJ Music Marathon. But thanks to the beauty of online and live taping, we didn't have to miss one of the shows we would have definitely stood in line to catch.

Head on over to our pal NYC Taper (who is featured in our next digital issue of IRT) for a live recording of a set from one of our new favorite bands, Real Estate. Ever since we heard this band's hazy surf-folk-psychedelia via their Atlantic City Expressway EP, we were hooked, and now you can check out their 10/24 gig at NYC's Market Hotel during CMJ last week for yourself by clicking here.

Also, make sure to save the date for their forthcoming self-titled LP, coming out Nov. 17 on Woodsist out of Warwick, NY. Track listing below.


Real Estate
Real Estate
(Woodsist)
Street Date: Nov. 17, 2009

1. Beach Comber
2. Pool Swimmers
3. Suburban Dogs
4. Black Lake
5. Atlantic City
6. Fake Blues
7. Green River
8. Suburban Beverage
9. Lets Rock The Beach
10. Snow Days

Ron Hart vs. Sean Lennon

When I was a little boy back in the late late 70s, my mom used to take me to an eye doctor on the Upper West Side. While I'm sure a optimologist in Levittown would have sufficed (though I didn't complain, as a trip to the eye doctor for me also meant going to the Central Park Zoo and the Museum of Natural History afterwards), part of me is convinced that she chose this guy, whose name I believe was Dr. LaVall, was due to the fact that he was in close proximity to the Dakota and she had a onside change of running into John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the street during one of my visits.

As anyone in my family would tell you, my mom was a complete freak about the Beatles. If you look at the footage closely, I am certain you can see her in the nosebleeds of Shea Stadium screaming her head off during their legendary concert there in 1965. My cousin Lucille is also quick to tell the story about how she and my other cousin Joanne were right beside her in front of my grandparents TV set when the Fabs played Ed Sullivan back in '64. She had every Beatles album and subsequent solo release, all of which now sit proudly in my own vinyl collection. Every time Let It Be, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine would be featured on WPIX, you know that Mom and I were watching. She is the only reason why I'm as big of a fan of John, Paul, George and Ringo as I am today. And while she was certainly more of a Paul girl, Mom also had a great love for John, and I remember her always saying how she wished that one day I could become friends with Sean, because we were around the same age.

Although I've met him a few times over the years hanging out in downtown NYC and, just last night, was invited to chill out in the backyard of his apartment to do an interview for an upcoming feature on Jambase.com as well as a cover story for what we hope to be the final print issue of IRT in 2010, I wouldn't exactly say these instances constitute a declaration of BFF status. However, knowing how much Sean's family meant to my family all of these years, being able to sit at his patio and have a conversation with him--something from what he says he hardly does with journalists--is an experience I will never soon forget and stands as one of the great highlights of my writing career.

Not only as a major fan of the music, activism and art created by his mom and dad, I am also a big fan of the amazing stuff Sean himself has crafted as an artist in his own right (if you haven't already, seek out his 2006 album Friendly Fire, one of the 5 best releases of the 00s), and I consider it to be quite an honor that young Lennon not only granted us this rare interview, one of the only ones he is doing this year in print in order to promote his amazing soundtrack to his friend (and frontman of former IRT feature stars Dopo Yume) Jordan Galland's film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead, but also expressed interest to comission some of his own artwork for the cover and the inside of this forthcoming issue of IRT in concert with the interview.

In the 30-odd minutes I spent at his pad, we waxed philisophic about such wide-ranging topics as his promising new record label he started out of his home, Chimera Music (www.chimeramusic.com), the paparazzi, the state of NYC's avant-garde community, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen, his comment about Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury, he and Yoko's recent guest spot on The View (see video below) and his thoughts on the passing of Michael Jackson, whom he worked with on Jackson's 1988 film, Moonwalker, and even exchanged memories of childhood trips to the Museum and the Zoo, among other things.

Sean, if you are reading this, I can't express how much your time and hospitality meant to me as someone who holds the music of both yourself and your parents so close to my heart. Thanks again, man.

And somewhere up in heaven, I am definitely certain that my mom is beaming with joy over the fact that I at least partially fulfilled her wish. -Ed.

www.seanonolennon.com

Sean and Yoko on The View:

THE IRT GUIDE TO RECORD SHOPPING: Oct. 16, 2009 Edition

Here is a rundown of some of the great new and current releases for those of us who still spend our hard-earned dollars on building up our record collections. So if you are perusing your favorite local mom-and-pop this weekend and not sure what to pick up, please consider any of these titles worthy of your economically strapped cashola. –Ed.


HUGH CORNWELL
Hooverdam (Invisible Hands)
Recorded at London’s infamous Toe Rag Studio in glorious analog, the latest solo release from the onetime Strangler is a barebones affair that is by far his scrappiest set in over 20 years. Though it was originally released in 2008, it has recently been made available stateside at your local independent record store in both vinyl and compact disc. Please note the CD version also comes with a DVD entitled Blueprint that chronicles the making of this most remarkable outing from one of British punk’s reigning icons. And oh yea, Hooverdam is also still available as a free download on Hugh’s Web site. But do yourself a favor and pick up the real thing as well. Your collection will thank you for it.


DEAD MAN’S BONES
Featuring the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir (Anti-)
Every now and again you get a celebrity who ventures into the music game and actually comes out with something worth his or her salt in acting chops. As Dead Man’s Bones, indie film darling Ryan Gosling (The Believer, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson), together with songwriting partner Zach Shields and a bunch of kids from the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir create a wholly unique fusion of Odyssey-era Zombies, Nick Cave and the Langley Schools Music Project that is creepy and captivating all at once. It might take a minute to grow on you, but soon enough this Dead Man will have your bones rattling in no time.


LEONARD COHEN
Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Columbia-Legacy)
Abruptly awakened from his slumber at 2 AM to calm a rabid crowd incited by an explosive performance from Jimi Hendrix moments prior, Leonard Cohen soothingly inoculated a crowd of 600,000 at the 1970 Isle of Wight music festival with a healthy dose of his poetic downer folk; in his pajamas, no less. Filmmaker Murray Lerner, on hand to document the event, captured Cohen’s brilliant, cathartic performance on celluloid while legendary Columbia Records soundman Teo Macero handled the audio. The result is this extraordinary find, beautifully packaged as a CD/DVD set by my pals at Legacy Recordings to be made available for public consumption this coming Tuesday.


ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM
Fluorescent Black (Big Dada)
Over six years after allegedly calling it quits as a group, the members of the celebrated IDM rap coalition Anti-Pop Consortium sign to Big Dada and make a surprise return to the recording studio with their tightest album since Tragic Epilogue. Note to Jigga: If you want to hear how to truly stage a comeback on wax, quit hanging out at hipster rock shows and check out Fluorescent Black.


JOHN PHILLIPS
Andy Warhol Presents Man on the Moon: The John Phillips Space Musical (Varese Sarabande)
Yes, yes, John Phillips is a scumbag who banged his daughter. That much we found out just recently. But if you have followed the trajectory of the Phillips brood over the course of their 45 years in the national spotlight, the fact that this is one fucked up family is nothing new. However, just because the man was a demon outside of the studio should not circumvent his brilliance inside the recording booth. The latest entry in Varese Sarabande’s ongoing reissue campaign of Papa John’s amazing solo catalog is a long-in-the-works collection of previously unreleased music from Phillips’ oddball 1975 off-Broadway musical produced by Andy Warhol entitled Man on the Moon. Stripped-down studio recordings and live audio recorded by Warhol himself from the audience of the Little Theatre document this weird and wacky ensemble augmented by a freaky combination of Phillips’ Nilsson-esque songwriting and outlandish Broadway-style numbers.


DOMINIQUE LEONE
Abstract Expression (Important)
How to you reach the shortcut in your record collection that takes you from ABBA to Harmonia in just a few measures? By following the trail blazed by Texas art pop maven Dominique Leone, of course. On his second album and first for Important Records, Leone continues trounce such competition as Dan Deacon and The Go! Team with his uncanny sonic collages that contain a more refined songwriting ability than anything he has done prior.


THE MELVINS
Chicken Switch (Ipecac)
The mighty, mighty Melvins return in 2009 with an album that takes P. Diddy’s boast of inventing the remix by outright reinventing that shit! For Chicken Switch, Buzzo and the boys invite a host of their experimental pals to take one of the many albums from their seemingly bottomless back catalog and whittle the entire thing down to a single track. And while you might not replace Houdini or The Maggot with this in your regular rotation, it is certainly interesting to see how the likes of Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Matmos, Merzbow, Eye Yamatsuka of the Boredoms, Panacea and Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple break down and reconstruct their favorite Melvins album into a span of three- to six-minute increments.


FLAMING LIPS
Embryonic (Warner Bros.)
All I have to say about this is THANK GOD. After enduring a full decade of warm, fuzzy cuteness from a group we should expect anything but from, The Flaming Lips make a refreshing return to the kind of paranoid, tripped out psychedelic rock that made you grateful the punk rockers finally started taking acid in the first place. Sorry all you Soft Bulletin fanboys, but Embryonic is the group’s best album since Clouds Taste Metallic. And hopefully we’ll never get to see those cheesy-ass animal costumes ever again.


KURT VILE
Childish Prodigy (Matador)
For his Matador debut, Philadelphia bedroom pop experimentalist Kurt Vile makes good on his CD-R salad days with an incredible full-length that submerges the sound of Blue Mask-era Lou Reed into a lo-fi bubblebath of psychedelics reminiscent of vintage Spacemen 3 if they explored more of a drum machine groove. Songs like “Amplifier”, the seven-minute “Freak Train” and a stellar cover of “Monkey” by the Richard Hell-led supergroup Dim Stars is everything that you want the sound of the downtown NYC rock scene to sound like. But since it’s been all sanitized for the boutique-shopping, Blue Condo-dwelling masses, it transplanted itself into the Suburbs of Brotherly Love.